Voices from Ferguson

Two years after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man, a shattered Missouri community struggles to come together

By Jeff Swicord and Chris SimkinsDecember 12, 2016

“Voices From Ferguson” profiles eight people in the Missouri town where African American Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer. Brown’s death on August 9, 2014, and its aftermath drew international headlines and sparked a Department of Justice investigation. The DOJ found the Ferguson police department and court system systematically violated the civil rights of its predominantly African American citizens.

For this series, VOA reached out to Ferguson residents from all walks of life. Each person, including Michael Brown’s mother, tells how his death, the unrest that followed, and the DOJ investigation, have affected their lives, and offer lessons to other American towns torn apart by police shootings.